May 12-14, 2015
May 12 10:46 Campaign now, shut gov't down later May 13 08:38 DFL campaign of lies continues May 13 12:08 Dayton, DFL, AWOL from negotiations May 13 13:08 Ryan Winkler's corruption BS May 13 16:23 Vatican gets political May 13 16:59 Exposing transportation activists' lies May 14 02:02 DFL senators feeling the heat May 14 13:52 Earnest dislodges Obama's foot from mouth May 14 15:14 Dayton unbound defined
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Campaign now, shut gov't down later
The Dayton administration has chosen an odd way of governing. Last night, they negotiated with Sen. Bakk and Speaker Daudt until 7:35. Then they took a late supper break, agreeing to resume negotiations at 9:00 pm. At 7:58 pm, Gov. Dayton's staff called off the 9:00-midnight negotiating session .
Today, rather than resolve a multitude of substantive issues that the Dayton administration has with House Republicans and Senate Democrats, Gov. Dayton and Lt. Gov. Smith will spend the day campaigning for Hillary Clinton. They aren't campaigning with Hillary. They're campaigning for Hillary. There's no chance that Hillary won't win all of Minnesota's delegates to the Democratic National Convention. There's plenty of time to campaign. There's less than a week left in Minnesota's legislative session.
Predictably, Gov. Dayton chose to spend today doing the low priority item of campaigning for Hillary rather than doing his job. It's additional proof that Gov. Dayton is an expert at making terrible decisions. High school honor students have better time management skills than Gov. Dayton. They're likely to have a greater sense of accountability than Gov. Dayton, too.
At the start of this session, the Twin Cities print media constantly asked whether Republicans could govern. That chorus ended when Speaker Daudt had to separate Sen. Bakk and Gov. Dayton. At this point, Sen. Bakk likes Speaker Daudt more than he likes Gov. Dayton. At this point, Gov. Dayton trusts Speaker Daudt more than he trusts Sen. Bakk. It's the DFL that's dysfunctional. The DFL is the political party who hasn't shown the ability to govern.
There's nothing in the DFL's actions that suggests that they're interested in avoiding a state government shutdown. The DFL's actions still resemble those of a spoiled brat who isn't getting his way. I'd argue that that's because they're being 'led' by a spoiled rich kid who isn't getting his way.
Contrastingly, Speaker Daudt has been the statesman throughout this session. He's been the solutions initiator, too. He's been the adult in the room. Let's hope that there's a handful of DFL legislators who still want to do the right thing so we can bring this session to a successful conclusion.
If there aren't, Gov. Dayton and the DFL will be to blame for the impending government shutdown.
Posted Tuesday, May 12, 2015 10:46 AM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 12-May-15 06:56 PM
They may BE to blame, but what are the odds they will actually GET the blame? They appear to be repeating a tactic that was successful last time around, and they will continue until it stops working for them. Wish I knew how to hang it around their necks and stop their nonsense.
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 12-May-15 08:31 PM
The thing Republicans need to stop is repeating the same activities that failed the last time. If we don't fight in the newspapers and in protests, then we'll deserve what we get.
Being an activists who shows up faithfully at BPOU meetings but doesn't financially support people who get the word out need to change.
Comment 3 by Chad Q at 14-May-15 09:05 AM
Not sure what news show I flipped to on Sunday but the DFL was already strategizing what they would say if (when) the government shuts down. They were saying all the things the low information voters want to hear. We can write all the LTE's (no one reads a paper anymore)and protest (no one is paying conservatives like the DFL does their fake protestors so we have to work to survive) as much as we want but until the MSM and LIV start paying attention to the truth, the GOP in MN will slowly be eroded to nothing.
Comment 4 by Gary Gross at 14-May-15 01:16 PM
That's right, Chad. Let's just give up & start complaining all the time. It's easier than doing something constructive.
DFL campaign of lies continues
I'll cut straight to the chase. Nan Madden's op-ed in the St. Cloud Times is disgustingly dishonest. Check this lie out:
Large tax cuts passed at the end of the 1990s and 2000s proved to be unsustainable, and were followed by deep cuts in higher education, affordable child care and other services.
That's total BS. First, the "large tax cuts passed at the end of the 1990s and 2000s" weren't unsustainable. What happened is that the US economy took a major, lengthy hit because of 9-11, then the first banking crisis. If not for that major recession, the Jesse Checks would've been totally sustainable. Madden's disgust with tax cuts is based more on misinformation and misguided ideology than by facts.
Her ideology is hard left. First, Madden is the director of the Minnesota Budget Project. MBP is part of an organization called Invest in Minnesota, an organization that "was founded by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) , the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition(JRLC) and the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) ."
According to IIM's website, "Invest in Minnesota is united around two core principles:
- Revenue-raising must be a significant part of the solution to resolving the state's budget deficit.
- The overall package of fair revenue-raising must make the tax system fairer.
It isn't difficult to figure out why The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and the Minnesota Budget Project hates tax cuts of any kind. Check out MCN's agenda page :
I'd also argue that the tax cuts were large. Here's some details on the Jesse Checks program :
"In late summer, I get to stand here and say, the checks are in the mail."
Ventura pushed for returning surplus money in the form of a sales tax rebate , which some Minnesotans have come to call "Jesse checks." This year, the average check is $512 for a married couple or head of household, and $232 for a single filer. State officials say all eligible taxpayers should receive their checks by Labor Day . But Ventura cautions that this may be the last year of rebate checks, since the state has cut taxes and the economy has slowed. "We are not bringing in the money that we used to bring in prior to my administration, and in light of that, and the economy, there may not be a fourth," says Ventura.
Nan Madden is the type of person that thinks the government and the NPOs they support should get first dibs on the money Minnesotans earn. She thinks that because she can't envision a world where NPOs don't get first dibs on the taxpayers' money.
Minnesota Budget Project, like Invest in Minnesota, pushed hard to pass a major minimum wage increase that includes cost of living adjustment. They're currently pushing for a law that would require companies to pay for sick leave for their employees. It isn't surprising that businesses have left Minnesota.
For nearly two decades, the Minnesota Budget Project has analyzed state tax and budget choices, and called for policies that propel Minnesota toward a future where all of us have access to opportunity and economic well-being.
That's similar to the truth but it isn't complete. Here's the whole truth about the Minnesota Budget Project. The Minnesota Budget Project supports economic policies that support intrusive, ever-growing government. If that means intruding on businesses' decisions for 'the greater good', they're fine with that.
They aren't a pro-growth organization any more than the Obama administration is a pro-growth administration.
Posted Wednesday, May 13, 2015 8:38 AM
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Dayton, DFL, AWOL from negotiations
David Montgomery's tweet is missing some important facts. Here's Montgomery's tweet:
Bakk & Daudt left about half an hour ago w/o talking to press. Initial thought was they would return after dinner, but now apparently done.
- David Montgomery (@dhmontgomery)
May 12, 2015
Here's what he's missing :
The negotiators agreed to take a short break, starting at 7:35 pm Monday night, with the agreement that they'd return at 9:00 pm. Dayton's staffers cancelled the 9:00-midnight negotiating session at 7:58 pm Monday night.
It's sloppy journalism (or worse) that Montgomery didn't include the fact that the Dayton-DFL team canceled Monday night's late negotiating session. There's nothing in David Montgomery's Twitter feed about Dayton's staffers cancelling Monday night's negotiating session. There's at least 9 tweets on Montgomery's feed, though, about the Hillary campaign rally from Tuesday. Clearly, Montgomery is a DFL shill.
One interesting thing in Montgomery's twitter posts is Joyce Peppin nailing Paul Thissen:
Thissen: 'The people of MN deserve to know, if you're going to be up there making... claims about compromise, what those compromises are."
- David Montgomery (@dhmontgomery)
May 13, 2015
Peppin: "It's really not custom to discuss the content of the negotiations through the process."
- David Montgomery (@dhmontgomery)
May 13, 2015
Peppin also burns Thissen, says she timed it: 46.72 seconds from his desk to Bakk's office, suggests Thissen ask Bakk if he wants answers.
- David Montgomery (@dhmontgomery)
May 13, 2015
That's called hitting Thissen right between his eyeballs. If Thissen isn't willing to walk less than a minute to Sen. Bakk's office for an update, that's his problem. It's a fair bet that Thissen doesn't want to talk with Sen. Bakk if he can avoid it. Their disgust with each other is the worst kept secret in St. Paul.
This has all the signs of a government shutdown. Gov. Dayton has wasted valuable time campaigning for Hillary. The Twin Cities media isn't telling Minnesotans the whole truth about budget negotiations, either.
Worst of all, Sen. Bakk was heard saying that he can 'win' a shutdown PR war. It's disgusting when one of the chief DFL negotiators is thinking in terms of who wins the PR war if there's a shutdown.
Posted Wednesday, May 13, 2015 12:08 PM
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Ryan Winkler's corruption BS
Rep. Ryan Winkler's op-ed is his usual blast of BS. Check this out:
Minnesota Republicans are putting state government up for sale to the highest bidder, and Rep. Heintzeman is one of the auctioneers. Rep. Heintzeman recently voted to eliminate Minnesota's anti-corruption campaign laws, including spending limits for all candidates in state elections. He also removed lobbyist contribution limits, enabling campaigns to be fully funded by lobbyists and special interest groups.
We should be increasing campaign finance disclosure and making it easier for the public to trust state government, but Rep. Heintzeman has instead put forward a corrupt payoff to his corporate backers who spent record amounts in the last election. Rep. Heintzeman's first vote this session was to keep corporate campaign cash hidden, and since then he voted to defeat the same measure half a dozen times. In the same bill that allows corporate special interests to run away with our elections, Rep. Heintzeman is also giving himself an increase in his own housing allowance. This type of self-interest and service to corporate allies does not benefit Minnesotans.
That's insulting. The DFL shoved the unconstitutional child care unionization bill down child care providers throats, ignoring the (mostly) women who run these in-home child care centers who lobbied at the Capitol during the last weekend of the 2013 session. The DFL, led on that issue by Mike Nelson, told the women lobbying against the bill that the unions' wish list was a higher priority than listening to their constituents.
The DFL ignored the corruption happening at Community Action of Minneapolis, too:
The Star Tribune first reported Sunday that a state audit found that leaders of the organization misspent more than $800,000 in taxpayer money on travel, a celebrity cruise, spa visits and even a personal car loan for its chief executive.
Community Action later shut down without the DFL uttering a peep about their corruption. This isn't hypothetical corruption, either. It's documented corruption. Where was Rep. Winkler when this real corruption was happening?
The corruption that Rep. Winkler is talking about is perceived corruption. There's no proof that legislators are engaging in quid pro quo deals. Until he has verifiable proof supporting his accusations, Rep. Winkler should keep his mouth shut or expect to get highlighted as a mean-spirited partisan who isn't that interested in the truth.
Posted Wednesday, May 13, 2015 1:08 PM
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Vatican gets political
I've got news for all the people talking about the new pope in glowing terms. The Vatican has lost its way. Badly :
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican officially recognized the state of Palestine in a new treaty finalized Wednesday, immediately sparking Israeli ire and accusations that the move hurt peace prospects.
The treaty, which concerns the activities of the Catholic Church in Palestinian territory, makes clear that the Holy See has switched its diplomatic recognition from the Palestine Liberation Organization to the state of Palestine.
The Vatican had welcomed the decision by the U.N. General Assembly in 2012 to recognize a Palestinian state. But the treaty is the first legal document negotiated between the Holy See and the Palestinian state and constitutes official diplomatic recognition. "Yes, it's a recognition that the state exists," said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi.
The Israeli foreign ministry said it was "disappointed." "This move does not promote the peace process and distances the Palestinian leadership from returning to direct and bilateral negotiations," the ministry said in a text message.
It's pretty pathetic that the Vatican would recognize the Palestinians without demanding that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. That isn't the only mistake the Vatican is making :
Pope Francis' closest adviser castigated conservative climate change skeptics in the United States Tuesday, blaming capitalism for their views.
Speaking with journalists, Cardinal Oscar Rodr~guez Maradiaga criticized certain 'movements' in the United States that have preemptively come out in opposition to Francis's planned encyclical on climate change.
'The ideology surrounding environmental issues is too tied to a capitalism that doesn't want to stop ruining the environment because they don't want to give up their profits,' Rodr~guez said, according to the Boston Globe's Crux blog.
As an evangelical Christian, I don't understand what climate change has to do with a person's religious faith. It doesn't have anything to do with the 2 greatest doctrines of the church, the Great Commandment or the Great Commission.
As for Cardinal Maradiaga's vilification of capitalism, that's warped thinking, too. It's impossible to think that Cardinal Maradiaga could fashion a persuasive argument that one economic system is less sinful than another.
Though there isn't tons of material to base opinions of Pope Francis off of, there's still sufficient material to say that he's wading into political issues more than all other popes prior to his papacy in my lifetime. There's little doubt, too, that Francis is the most liberal pope of my lifetime.
Posted Wednesday, May 13, 2015 4:23 PM
Comment 1 by eric z at 15-May-15 07:47 AM
One man's mistake is another man's insight. Francis is doing fine.
Exposing transportation activists' lies
Predictably, transportation lobbyists have started turning up the heat :
No one likes paying taxes and people get understandably nervous when they hear about the possibility of their taxes going up. But the fact of the matter is that we need taxes, not just to expand but to repair and maintain existing infrastructure. Roads and bridges are the core of government's mission, and Minnesotans expect their roads to be safe. We cannot be afraid of the tough choices to provide core services and ensure road safety.
The key is to make sure that new money is dedicated to transportation; if money dedicated to transportation now can be shifted to cover a budget deficit a few years down the road, it doesn't fix the problem. Governor Dayton's proposal includes new, dedicated revenue for transportation that can't be easily shifted when times get tough.
The argument that taxes that aren't constitutionally dedicated to fixing roads and bridges don't fix the problem is ridiculous. First, Republicans proposed the creation of the Transportation Stability Fund. Sales taxes already are being collected on auto parts, rental cars and leased vehicles. The DFL hasn't explained why sales taxes on vehicles shouldn't pay for road repairs. Next, the DFL hasn't said why we shouldn't put the TSF on the ballot as a constitutional amendment.
The DFL has repeatedly said that someone might raid the TSF if there's another deficit. What they're really saying is that the DFL might raid it if there's a deficit. Republicans won't because they badly want the TSF to work.
Brainerd is growing, due in large part to the hard work of the people who live here. But in order to continue to grow, we need our infrastructure to grow with us. Some of that work is already underway; for the past few years, Highway 371 has been expanded across our region, and the four-lane expansion between Nisswa to Jenkins beginning in 2016 will bring added benefit to the whole Brainerd lakes area. But we need to do better to meet the current needs of our businesses and residents, and we need to do a better job of maintaining what we already have.
The DFL's latest transportation plan failed miserably. In 2008, they passed a nickel-a-gallon gas tax, promising that it would supply sufficient funding to clear up our backlog of transportation projects for a generation.
Now the DFL is back, insisting that "we need to do a better job of maintaining what we already have", essentially admitting that their 2008 plan failed. The DFL didn't hesitate about lying , either:
Unfortunately, we face a significant ongoing shortfall that cannot be met with a one-time shift of funds that are being fought over by many competing interests.
That's a lie :
Much of the magic in the math involves the inflation rate used to calculate construction costs in the Minnesota Transportation Finance Advisory Committee's 2012 report, upon which legislators and policymakers rely.
The state plugs in an inflation factor of 5 percent, more than twice the Consumer Price index average over the past 12 years. The Federal Highway Administration inflation factor for projects averaged 1.1 percent; the American Road and Transportation Building Association averaged 3.1 percent inflation during the same period, according to the report.
In other words, the DFL-appointed MnDOT commissioner is cooking the books to make it look like they need 2-4 times as much money as they really need. MnDOT's inflation factor is 5%. The Federal Highway Administration inflation rate is 1.1%. It's a safe bet that MnDOT's cooking the books.
Posted Wednesday, May 13, 2015 4:59 PM
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DFL senators feeling the heat
A group of DFL senators are getting pressured this week over the Dayton-DFL gas tax increase:
Vulnerable DFL senators in eight districts are getting hit with a barrage of ads in the closing days of the legislative session criticizing their stance on a proposed gas tax increase.
Here are the senators:
Matt Schmit, Red Wing
Vicki Jensen, Owatonna
LeRoy Stumpf, Plummer
Lyle Koenen, Clara City
Kevin Dahle, Northfield
Greg Clausen, Apple Valley
Melisa Franzen, Edina
Bev Scalze, Little Canada
Some of these senators should be worried because they aren't just getting pressured to not support the DFL's gas tax increase. They're also on this list :
This matter originated with the filing of a series of complaints by the Republican Party of Minnesota (RPM) alleging that the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor (DFL) State Central Committee (the Central Committee Party Unit), the Minnesota DFL Senate Caucus party unit (the Senate Caucus Party Unit), and various DFL Senate candidates violated Minnesota Statutes Chapter 10A as a result of classifying printed communications as independent expenditures when the communications were not, in fact, independent of the affected candidates.
On October 11, 2012, the Board received the first complaints in this series, relating to communications advocating the elections of Alice Johnson, Jim Carlson, Julie Bunn, Melisa Franzen and Vicki Jensen . On October 18, 2012, the RPM filed an additional complaint regarding communications advocating the election of Alan Oberloh. On November 2, 2012, the RPM filed three additional complaints alleging the same conduct and violations relating to communications advocating the elections of Laurie McKendry, Matt Schmit , and Tom Saxhaug.
Then there's this:
Based on the information discovered about additional candidates and additional communications, the Board, by formal vote in executive session at its meeting of June 10, 2013, expanded its investigation to include the two additional candidates who participated in Pivot photo shoots, Kent Eken and Kevin Dahle , and to expand the investigation to include all literature distributed by the DFL that used images from the photo shoots.
Of the 8 senators that the Minnesota Jobs Coalition is running ads against, 4 were caught coordinating their campaign expenditures with various DFL campaign committees. Unfortunately for the DFL, that scandal was expanded further to include these candidates:
At its meeting of August 6, 2013, by formal vote in executive session, the Board expanded its investigation to include Lyle Koenen , Susan Kent, and Greg Clausen , the additional candidates who participated in the Compass photo shoots.
Six of the senators that are getting hit with the Minnesota Jobs Coalition ads are in a difficult situation because they committed a major campaign finance infraction, too. The question these senators have to ask is whether they'd rather lose their election by voting for the DFL gas tax increase. Raising the gas tax isn't popular. That's why it's a bit puzzling to see Sen. Bakk forcing this on his senators.
Posted Thursday, May 14, 2015 2:02 AM
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Earnest dislodges Obama's foot from mouth
Josh Earnest isn't get paid enough to cover for President Obama's foolish comments about private schools:
Here's the transcript of Earnest's interview with Joe Scarborough:
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Were you, I am sure you will be asked this question many times in your next press briefing, but the president was critical of people who went to private schools and sent their children to private schools and plays at private clubs and well every alarm should be going off. Do you have that clip? Let's play that clip first.
(VIDEO START)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Those who are better and better, more skilled, educated, luckier, having greater advantages are withdrawing from, sort of the commons, kids start going to private schools. Kids start working out at private clubs instead of the public parks. An anti-government idea old disinvests from those common goods and those things that draw us together, and that, in part, contributes to the fact that there is less opportunity for our kids.
(VIDEO ENDS)
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Obviously, the man that said it, went to the best prep school in Hawaii and went to the best private colleges in the United States, his children who I don't think it's anybody's business where they send their children, but if the president is going to criticize people who send their children to private schools he has to recognize, obviously, that he sends his children to the best schools in Washington, possibly America. How does he, is there a self critique against himself, the mistakes he's made? What was the president trying to get at there?
JOSH EARNEST: Joe, the point the president was making is it's important for us to recognize it as a country. We all have an interest in investing in the common benefits that our country has to offer. His point is that even if you send your kids to private school, we all have an interest in making sure we have good high quality public schools available to everybody. It's not that far from the White House that we do have some of the best public schools in the country over in Fairfax County, Virginia.
That is an example. That is also a more wealthy than average county in the country. That is an example of a society of a community that has invested in a common good for the benefit of their community and that's the kind of thing that we need to see all across the country. Whether that is something as simple as investing in our national parks or local parks or public schools or making sure that every single American has access to quality health insurance.
JOE: So did the president consider sending its children to public schools? Again, none of my business unless he is criticizing Americans who send their children to private schools.
EARNEST: Again, I don't think he's criticizing sending people to private schools.
He's suggesting all Americans need to keep in mind; it's in our collective interest as a country and as citizens for us to invest in the common good, for us to invest and make sure we have good quality public schools available for everybody so that everybody has a fair shot. Everybody has a fair shake. Everybody has an equal opportunity to succeed and will let their ambition and hard work take them as far as it will carry them. That is what this country is all about. we start to lose sight of those basic values in this country the we start to retract into our own private clubs and schools and lose sight of the fact if we lose interest that we want those public schools to be good.
JOE: Please let the president also, I got a name of a couple public golf courses I'd like to show him. My comment is one of the best. I'd love to take him on a round out there. Public, beautiful.
Simply put, Josh Earnest must scratch his head and what his boss was thinking at times. Actually, in the spirit of bipartisanship, I'll help Josh with that. When President Obama starts feeling it, when he's relaxed, he gets lippy. He starts reflexively criticizing Fox News and Republicans. It doesn't matter if the facts are on his side. His ideology is all he needs to start a demagogic rant. It's as predictable as the sun setting in the west.
On a serious matter, though, President Obama just explained why President Obama's first budget ended the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program . Fortunately, minority families loudly protested President Obama's budget and got the DCOSP restored. There's no denying that President Obama and his wife are elitists that lecturing people because they think they know what's best.
Posted Thursday, May 14, 2015 1:52 PM
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Dayton unbound defined
Since he won re-election, Gov. Dayton has said he isn't bound by the same limits as when he was facing another election. Now that he's announced that he's run in his last campaign, Gov. Dayton has been a stubborn ideologue who doesn't give a rip about what Minnesotans want.
Though 75% of the state supports a transportation plan that doesn't include a tax increase, Gov. Dayton and the DFL continue to insist on a gas tax increase. Here's a list of articles from lobbyists imploring Republicans to cave on their promise not to raise the gas tax:
Business supports transportation funding solution
Our View: Highway 14 gains with DFL plan
MnDOT Commissioners: Money must be adequate and dedicated
Guest Opinion: Transportation in Brainerd is a critical investment
Business groups continue push for transportation funding
Those are just some of the articles Gov. Dayton included in his daily email yesterday. It's particularly cruel that the Mankato Free Press is using Highway 14 in its editorial. In 2008, Margaret Anderson-Kelliher promised Rep. Rod Hamilton that Highway 14 would get built if he voted to override Gov. Pawlenty's veto. (Reminder: Rep. Hamilton kept his promise. The DFL didn't.)
But I digress.
In his first term, Gov. Dayton worked in bipartisan fashion, including on Rep. Dan Fabian's permitting reform legislation. That isn't happening anymore. Gov. Dayton's top priority is universal pre-K. Both the House and Senate rejected Gov. Dayton's proposal to spend $343,000,000. Gov. Dayton didn't get the hint from the bipartisan rejection of his plan. He's still insisting on his proposal.
This is just theory but I'm betting that Gov. Dayton's insistence on universal pre-K is a product of him wanting a legacy item. If it costs him DFL control of the Senate, he appears willing to sacrifice DFL senators to accomplish it.
What "Dayton unbound" means is that he isn't hiding his extremism anymore. Gov. Dayton isn't pretending to be a gentleman anymore.
If Gov. Dayton continues acting this way, his legacy will be tinged with reminders that he was a loose cannon with a short temper.
Posted Thursday, May 14, 2015 10:55 PM
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